Garbage grinder



April 4, 1961 B. L. BRUCKEN ETAL GARBAGE GRINDER Filed Aug. 30, 1956 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 IN VEN TORS 5mm L. BRUCKEN BY 650%: 5. Lon/a THE/R ATTORNEY April 1951 B. L. BRUCKEN ETAL 2,978,190

GARBAGE GRINDER 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Aug. 30, 1956 INVENTORS BRUCKEA/ BYRON Z. 6

BY [ORGf' Ego/vs THEIR ATTORNEY April 1961 B. L. BRUCKEN ETA]. 2,978,190

GARBAGE GRINDER Filed Aug. 30, 1956 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 INVENTORS IIZ Em A BRUCKEN 771m ATTORNEY v 'In the drawing'si 1 1' fl t d States i GARBAGE GRINDER I Byron L. Bruckeu and George B. Long, Dayton, Ohio, assignors to General Motors Corporation, Detroit,

"Micln, a corporation of Delaware 7 Filed Aug. 30, 1956, Ser. No. 607,118 4 Claims. (Cl.24'1-46) throat section beirigsupported by a metal clamping mem-' bet that holds the throat section in tight engagement with the disposal shredder ring and with the lower housing of the'disposal.

Still another object is-to provide a closure cap that is adapted to be mounted within a sink drain member, the

V closure cap comprising a dome-shaped resilient portion and a rigid insert located within the dome-shaped portion, the insert cooperating with the dome-shaped portion to permit or cut off the passage offluid through the closure cap.

A further object is to provide a stator mounting arrangement for a dynamoelectric machine, wherein certainsurfaces on the stator are machined fiat and cooperate with flat surfaces on thestator housing in order to accurately position the stator within the housing.

Anotherobject is to provide a method of attaching "arelatively hard garbage disposal impeller to an electric 7 motor drive'shaft, the method including swaging soft metal into a central aperture of the impeller, machining out the soft metal toform a shaftengaging-aperture, and

v 2,978,190 1 "Patented Apr. 4, 1961 Figure 6 is a top view of the impeller shown in Figure 5;

Figure 7 is a sectional view of a modified arrangement for positioning a stator within the housing of an electric motor;

Figure 8 is a sectional view of still another modified arrangement for positioning a stator within the housing of an electric motor; and

Figure 9 is a sectional view of the closure cap of this invention showing the closure cap in a closed position.

The garbage or waste disposer of this invention as shown in Figure 1 comprises an upper housing 10, and a lower impeller housing 12 to which is attached an electric motor housing 14. The upper housing 10 is preferably made of a reinforced elastomeric material. The

material may be of rubber reinforced' with'cord 16 that may be of'nylon or any other suitable reinforcingmaterial. The upper rubber housing 10 is fixed to the impeller housinglZ by means of a stainless steelclampingring 18 that conforms to the outer contour of the rubber housing. A shredder ring generally denoted by referpress fitting the shaft withinthe shaft engaging aperture.

Still another object is to provide a centrifugal switch for an electric :motor, the switeh having housing attachable to the motor drive shaft, the housing being fo'i'fried with fanblades for pulling airjover the rotor and the stator of fthe motorwhen ithe' electric' motor'is in op:

Further objects and advantages of the present invention will :be. apparent. from the following description, reference being hadto the accompanying drawings, wherein a preferred fcrrn of the present invention is'clearly shown.

Figure 1 is a sectional view of a garbage disposal arrangement made in; accordanee'withthis invention, the impeller being j show" in a section taken along line 1- 1 Figure 3 is a. sectionalview taken along line of Figure 4 ir s-ri arian wa ts along line or F ask 1 as impell in se ctiom p fha modified.

disposal unit made in accordance ing by bones or'the" like that and water is ence-numeral 20 is held in place between the impeller housing 12 and the clamping ring 18., The shredder'ring has a lower flanged portion 22 that rests on and fits within a groove formed in the impeller housing as shown. The clamping ring as shown in Figure 1' has an outwardly directed flanged portion 24 that overlies a portion of the 1 rubber housing 10 and also overlies an upper portion of impeller housing 12. A plurality of bolts 26 engage tapped openings in the impeller housing to hold the clamping ring 18, the rubber housing 10 and the shredder ring 20 in fixed relationship with impeller housing 12. It should be noted that the clamping ring 18 is pro-' vided with a second flanged portion 28 that overlies a part of the rubber housing 10, and which holds the rubber housing in tight engagement with the top portion of the shredder ring 20. The clamping ring 18 extends somewhat'above the top edge of the shredder ringahd operates together with the reinforced rubber. throat section to prevent the puncturing of the sidewalls ofthe upper hous- The rubber housing 10; is.provided with an integral con 3 duit portionliilthat may be connected withthe drain'con-' duit of'a dishwasher 'or the like. A pairof rubber flaps 32 one of which isshown are formed integrally with-the housing lil-and'ar'e disposed at opposite sides of theintersection of conduit 30 and the housing I0. When it is desired to usegthe drain connection 30, the portion 34' of" the rubber housing is punctured-out in orderto connect the conduit 30 with the interior of rubber'housing 10.

When the portion- 34B punched out, the rubber fiaps'32'r operate to prevent the passage of waste material and water from being thrown into conduit 30 as the waste material inglil. V The shredder ring 20 is provided with a plurality of lower teeth 36, as' shown in Figures 1 and 3, the spaces g-i between the teeth providing drain apertures for ground waste material and Water." The shredder ring also is provided with one or more cutting teeth38 that extend the entire length of the shredder ring. The cutting teeth 38 cooperate with an impeller generally denotedrby refer ence numeral 40 and-located partially within'a chamber 1 42 formed in impeller housing 12; The chamber 42 communicates with a conduit, portion 44 that is used as the drain connection for'the garbagedisposal unit. The

.. impeller 40 comprises an intermediate portion 46 thatis. provided with a pair-of upstandi ribs .1,4s..;;, one of the ribs is integrally formed with an upstanding tang50, while the lower portion of the impeller is provided with."

may be deposited within" the garbage clisposer; J e

thrown along the inner periphery of hensacre, 1 so ribs 52; The intermediate portion 46 of the impeller is provided with a plurality of apertures 54 that are of a larger diameter at the bottom portion of the impeller and which taper to a smaller diameter at the top portion of the impeller. Preferably, the impelleriscast into the shape shown in Figures 1 and 3 and the apertures 54- are'formed during the casting operation.

Theimpeller 40 is connected-with a' drive shaft 55 of an induction motor generally designated by reference numeral 56. This connection ismade by swaging a quantity of soft metal material such as aluminum into the central aperture 58 of the impeller to form a soft metalinsert 60 therein. The-central aperture 58 of the impeller is preferably cast-to a diameter greater'than that of shaft 55 and maybe roughened or made-irregular toinsure a good gripping action between'the impeller 40 and insert 61 The soft metal insert 60 after being swaged into the impeller 48 is'machined out toforrn a central aperture 62 'that is of a diameter slightly less than the outside diameter of shaft 55. The shaft 55 may be knurled or splined and the metal insert is then press-fitted on the shaft 55 with the shaft engaging aperture 62 tightly engaging the knurled orsplined portion of the shaft.

The shaft 55 of electric motor 56 is supported'within a conventional bearing 64 located in a downward extension 66 of impeller housing 12. The lower end of shaft 55 is splined to a rotor 68 of the induction motor 56. A conventional sealing bearing 70'seals the chamber 42 from the bearing 64 and a pipe or conduit 72 is connected betweena chamber 74 and the outside of the garbage disposer in order to provide a drain connection for, fluid that might leak past bearing seal 70 into chamber 74.

The induction motor 56 is provided with a stator that includes a laminated core 76 and a stator winding 78. The laminated core 76 is held together by rivets 79 located circumferentially of the stator and having rivet heads 80. The stator is preferably held in fixed relationship with the impeller housing 12 by a plurality of bolts 82 that pass through the stator core 76 and which are threaded into impeller housing 12. The stator core is accurately positioned with respect to the longitudinal axis of the impeller housing v12 by machining flat the top surface of. rivet heads 80 and by machining smooth the cylindrical surface 86 on stator core 76. The impeller housing 12 has boss portions 88 located at circumferentially spaced points aroundqthe' housing. The bossportions 88 are machined flat along lower surfaces 90.,and perpendicular to the longitudinal axis of impeller housing, 12. A. surface 92 formed in lower housing 12 is machined to form a cylindrical smooth surface located parallel 'to the longitudinal axis of the impeller housing 12. .The circumferentially. extending smooth surface 92 and the surface 86; whenin. engagement cooperate to position the stator, with its longitudinal. axis coinciding v with the longitudinal axisof theimpeller housing 12.

The fiat surface at the top of each rivet head 88 also cooperate to accurately position the stator core 76v when the fiat surface is in engagement with the flat surface 90 on the bosses 88 of impeller housing 12., These flat surfaces are held in tight engagement with one another bythe bolts 82 which, when tightened, force the stator core-76 into tight engagement with impeller housing 12 alongthe above-mentioned flatsurfaces.

A modified arrangement for'positionin'g'the stator core I of a dynamoelectric machine in'relation to a housing is shown in Figures' 7' and 8 wherein the same reference numerals" as used in Figure 1 denote the same or similar parts. In Figure 7 the stator core '76'is machined flat along surface 94 and smooth along surface 96, the surmember 114, as shown.

in the rivets are disposed inwardly from the machined edge 94-. In Figure 7 the smooth surface 96 is machined circumferentially of core 76 and is cylindrically shaped. The cooperating surface on impeller housing 12 is likewise smooth but cylindrically shaped.

In Figure 8 the rivet head is provided with a top fiat machined surface 98 and with a second smooth machined surface 100. The machined surfaces 98 and 100 cooperate with fiat and smooth machined surfaces formed on impeller housing 12. In this arrangement the surface 108 is smooth but forms an arc of a circle and the surface 100 may be machined smooth by turning the surface on a lathe or the like. A third fiat surface 102 may also be machined on rivet head 80 to cooperate with a fiat surface on impeller housing 12. With this arrangement the stator core 76 is accurately positioned with respect to impeller housing 12 in a fashion similar to the positioning of stator 76 in Figure 1. V

e e electric motor 56 as shown in Figure 1 is provided withan inner housing 104 and an outer housing 14. The inner housing may befixed to the stator core 76 by means of bolts 82 and rivets79. The outer housing 14 is fixed to the inner housing 104 by means of one or more screws 108. A centrifugal switch generally denoted by reference numeral has apart secured to the drive shaft 55 of the electric motor. The centrifugal switch 110 comprises a housing 112 that is press-fitted or otherwise secured to shaft 55 for rotation therewith. A transverse member 114 extends across the housing. 112 and fits within slots 113a formed in the legs 113 of the housing, as shown in Fig. 1. The transverse member 114 is preferably made of spring steel and is bowed downwardly, as shown. A pair of centrifugal weights 116 are suitably secured to spring metal member 114 as shown and tend to move the spring metal member upwardly against its inherent resiliency and out of its bowed condition to a. substantially flat condition when the shaft 55 is rotated at some predetermined speed. The ends of member 114 move outwardly through slots 113a to some extent when the weights 116 move upwardly. A button or hearing 114a made of nylon or other suitable material is secured to a contact arm 123 and has a top portion engaging a central protuberance formed on transverse It will be apparent that the central protuberance on member 114 rotates on the top surface of button114a when shaft 55 is rotated.

The contact arm 123 carries an electrical contact 120 I and is secured to a sheet of insulating material that is in turn suitably secured to housing 104. A second contact 122 is suitably supported above insulator 125 and cooperates with contact 120. The contact arm 123 is made of a spring metal such as spring steel and, due to 7 its own resiliency, normally holds contact 120 away from relatively fixed contact 122.- The spring bias of memher 114, however, is sufficient to hold contact arm 123 downwardly to a position wherein'oontacts 120 and 122 are in engagement. The contact arm 123'and contact 122 are electrically connectedwith post 126.

When shaft 55 is rotated at some predetermined speed the weights 116 operate to elevate the central protuberance of member 114, thus moving the protuberance away from the button 114a; In this position the member 114 is substantially flat and the ends of member 114 move outwardly through slots ll3a to some extent. With the central protuberance out of engagement with button 1140: the contact arm 123 moves upwardly under its own resilience, thereby moving contact 120 away from contact 122. It should be noted that the inherent resiliency of the member 114.inits bowed 'natural condition of Fig. 1 is sufficient to hold contact. arm 123 down when the shaft 55, is not rotating. The housing 112 of the centrifugal switch is provided with integral fanblades 128 that operate to circulate cooling airpver the rotor and stator of the induction motor when the'motor is in operation. In order toprovide a' 'flo'virpath for-air being drawn throughthe housing of the electric motor by fan blades 128, the impeller housing 12is formed with one or more air passages 129, while the housings 104-and 106are, respectively, provided with ah passages 130 and 132. The contacts 120 and 122 of centrifugal switch 110 are used to cut out the starter or phase winding of the induction motor 56 when the rotor shaft 55 reaches some predetermined rotational speed. The circuit connections between the centrifugal switch 110 and the induction motor 56 are not shown as they are well known to those skilled inthe art. V r v V The upper portion of rubber housing is provided with a metal ring 134 bonded or otherwise secured toa flanged portion of the rubber housing. The metal ring 134 and the disposal are supported by clamping means generally denoted by reference numeral 136.

The clamping means includes an annular metal ring 140 that encircles a downwardly cylindrically shaped portion of a tubular sink drain member 146. A second annular metal ring 142 encircles the lower portion of sinkdrain member 146 and is disposed above ring 140. A flexible sealing member 143 made of rubber or the like is interposed between the ring 142 anda fianged portion of drain member-146. A plurality of bolts 138, one of which is shown, are threadedinto ring 140 with the heads of the bolts facing ring 142, Each bolt is provided with an L-shaped clamping member 145, the two legs of'the member abutting clamp 134 and ring 142 respectively. The clamping member 145 is held in place by a nut threaded on the bolt 138'as shown. The above described connection is made by first assemblying the sink drain member 146 within a drain opening in a sink.

The flexible member-143 and the metal ring 142 are then slipped onto the sink drain member. Themetal ring 140 carrying thebolts 138 is then slipped over the lower end of sink drain member- 146. A snap ring 147 is then slipped onthe member 146. The snap ring fits within a her 144 is clamped between drain member 146 and flexible-member 143. With .this operation complete the open end ofhousing 10.is slippedover the lowermost" portion of drain member 146. The clamps 145 are then slipped .onto bolts 138 and are drawn up tight against ring 134 and ring 140 by the nuts as shown. With this arr-angement'the disposal unit is securely'fiked to the bottom of the sink.

A stopper generally denotedby reference numeral 148 is located within sink drain member 146 and has an upper handle portionand a dome-shaped portion 150 that merges into a cylindrical'portion 152 which tightly engages the walls of sink drain member 146. The'sink drain member- 146 is provided with a circumferentially extending ledge that supports the lowermost portion of stopper"146 as shown. The stopper 18 is preferably collapsed and remain in the position shown in Figure 9. In this position an annular rib 162 integral with the dome-shaped portion of the stopper engages the stainless steelplate and closes a drain path ordinarily provided by apertures 158 and aperture 156. The stopper 148 may be removed from within the sink drain portion 146 by grasping the top portion of the stopper and removing the'stopper from within the sink drain. The stopper when in position in the sink drain 146 may be closed by simply pressing downwardly on the top portion of the stopper in order to collapse the dome-shaped portion and thus force the annular rib 162 against the stainless steel plate 154. i i

A modified impeller adapted to be used with the garbage disposal unit of Figure 1 is shown in Figures 5 and 6. In these figures the same reference numeral as those used in Figure 1 represent the same or similar parts. The impeller 164 as shown in Figures 5 and 6 is cylindrically shaped and is provided with a pair of diametrically opposed slots 166. A fiat sheet of spring metal 168 is secured to the top portion of impeller 164 and has end portions that extend over the slots 166. Theflat spring metal sheet is secured to impeller 164 byrneans of a bolt 170 that also serves to hold the impeller fixed to drive shaft 55. A pair of vane members 172 are secured to the underside of spring metal member 168 by means of screws 174. .The vane members 172 as shown in FiguresS and 6 lie'within the diametrically opposed slots 166. When the impeller 164 is rotated at high speeds, the vanes 172 move upwardly to the dotted line positions of'Figure 5 to provide an improved grinding action. The impeller 164 is provided with a plurality of apertures 178 that permit the drainage of fluid and waste material fromupper housing 10'into thechamber 42. i

It should be noted thatthe conduit 44 formed in housing 12 of the disposal as shown in Figure l m ay be provided with a rubber connector 180 that is formed with an integral conduit portion 182. The conduit portion 182 may be used as a drain connection for a dishwasher or the like when the material at 184 is punched out to connect the conduit 182 with the interior of the conduit 180.

In operation, waste materialthat is to be groundand disposed of is deposited within the upper housing 10 of due to the cooperation of impeller 40 and the cutting I teeth 38. It should be noted that the shredder ring 20 is formed with an annular'bead 20a,'as shown in Fig.1, that extends around theshredder ring between cutting teeth 38. Th'ebead 20a prevents the shearing off of the portion of the rubber housing 10tha't abutsthe top rim of the shredder ring by waste material moving up on the shredder ring during the grinding operation. The

ground waste material passes downwardly through the apertures formed in the impeller '40 and flows downwardly through the spaces located between teeth 36 into of circumferentially spaced apertures 158. ,When the stopper isinthe position shown in Figure 1, water draining down into s ink drain portion 146"may pass through apertures '158, aperture156 and through a central aperture formed in rubber guard 160 and thence into the interiorof rubber housing 10.- f

The rubber guard 160 preferably has a ;plurality of I radiallyextending slits (not sh wnlextending outwardly from the central aperture. The outer peripheral edge of guard 1 60 fits within a groove formed by bending the sink drain to the shape shownin Figure 1.1 The domeshaped portion 150 of stopper 148 is: adapted to be chamber 42. This waste material mixed with the water 1 then' flows outwardly through conduit portion 44 that is connected with a drain conduit that is-in turn preferably connected witha sewer line.

While the form of embodiment of the invention as herein; disclosed constitutes a preferred form, it is to be understood that. other forms might be adopte'd,'a's may come within the scope of the claims which follow.

What is claimed is as follows;

1. A waste disposer unit comprising, an upper housing and a lower housing, a chamber in said upper housing adapted to be connected withv a' sink drain or the like,

an inlet for-said chamber, a closure member located in said inlet, 'said closure member opening and closing a flow path to saidchamber, a shredder-ring located in said chamber," an impeller in said ehamb'en'said'impeller having a pair-of diametrically opposed transverse slots, at

spring metal member connected to the top side of said impeller having portions extending over said slots, a pair of vanes connected t o the underside of said spring portions, a shaft connected with said impeller and extending into said lower housing, a dynamoelectric machine in said lower housing including a rotor connected with said shaft, a stator having a laminated core surrounding said rotor, a plurality of rivets extending through said core and having rivet heads projecting from an end face of said core, said rivet heads each having a flat surface abutting fiat surfaces on said lower housing, said flat surfaces being so oriented that said stator assumes a position wherein the longitudinal axis of said stator is parallel to the longitudinal axis of said lower housing when said flat surfaces are in engagement, and means for holding said first surfaces in tight engagement with one another.

2. A waste disposal unit eomprisingran upper housing and a lower housing, shredder means. located in said upper housing, an impeller in said upper housing having,

an outer wall located adjacent said shredder means, a shaft connected with said impeller and extending into said lower housing, a dynamoelectric machine in said lower housing including a rotor connected with said shaft, a stator having a laminated core surrounding said rotor, a plurality of rivets extending through said core having rivet heads projecting from an end face of said core, said rivet heads each having a flat surface abutting flat surfaces on said lower housing, said flat surfaces being so oriented that said stator assumes a position wherein the longitudinal axis of said stator is parallel to the longitudinal axis of said lower housingwhen said flat surfaces are in engagement, and means for holding said flat surfaces in tightengagement with one another.

3. A garbage disposal having an upper housing of elastomeric material and a lower housing, said upper housing defining a chamber for the reception of Waste material and having a top opening adapted to be aligned with a sink drain or the like, a shredder ring located in said upper housing, said shredder ring having an outer wall engaging a portion of the inner wall of said upper housing and having a lower portion abutting said lower housing, the upper rim portion of said shredder ring engaging a flanged portion of said upper housing and being formed with an annular head that extends inwardly. of the inner edge of said flanged portion, a supporting and clamping member engaging a portion of the outer wall of said upper housing and extending above said shredder ring, and means engaging said clamping member and said lower housing for holding said elastomeric upper housing in tight engagement with said shredder ring and lower housing, and for holding said shredder ring in tight engagement with said lower housing.

4. A waste disposer comprising, a lower housing enclosing an electric motor, an impeller connected with the rotor of said motor, a shredder ring resting on a portion of said lower housing and cooperating with said impeller in the grinding of waste material, an upper waste receiving housing formed of a reinforced elastomeric material, said upper housing having a lower edge resting on said lower housing, and having a portion engaging a top edge of said shredder ring, a metal clamp tightly fitting the outer wall of said upper housing and having a portion etxending above said shredder ring, and means fastening said clamp to said lower housing, said clamp holding said shredder ring and upper and lower housings in fixed relationship with one another, the portion of said clamp extending above said shredder ring and said reinforced elastomeric housing adjacent thereto preventing puncturing of said disposer upper housing above said shredder ring.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,933,117 Markle Oct. 31, 1933 2,328,098 Remington Aug. 31, 1943 2,372,011 Remington Mar. 20, 194-5 2,523,520 Reinhard Sept. 26, 1950 2,541,120 Sparklin Feb. 13, 1951 2,577,152 Powers Dec. 4, 1951 2,612,571 Bisley a- Sept. 30, 1952 2,623,962 Holstein Dec. 30, 1952 2,643,066 Lamb 0' June 23, 1953 2,643,394 Wood June 30, 1953 2,709,046 Hyde May 24, 1955 2,741,997 Parker Apr. 17, 1956 2,743,875 Brezosky May 1, 1956 2,760,728 Jordan Aug. 28, 1956 2,768,260 Greenhut Oct. 23, 1956 2,785,864 Jordan Mar. 19, 1957 Borman Aug. 6, 1957 

